Spindle idler and brake assembly



June 30, 1959 s. WHI'IIL'EHEAD SPINDLE IDLER AND BRAKE ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed March 10, 1958 INVENTOR. 574A/Lfy [Mum/40 IQTTOE/VEYS June 30, 1959 s. WHITEHEAD I 2,892,302

SPINDLE IDLER AND BRAKE ASSEMBLY Filed March 10, 1958 z-she ets-sheet 2 INVENTOR. 4 5/77/1/15) l Vfi/me mo United States Patent SPINDLE IDLER AND BRAKE ASSEMBLY Stanley Whitehead, Stalybridge, England, assigrmr, by mesne assignments, to William Kenyon & Sons Inc., Perth Amboy, N.J., a corporation of New York Application March 10, 1958, Serial No, 720,126

6 Claims. ((31. 57-88) This invention relates to a combination idler and brake mechanism for spinning and doubling machine spindles, and more particularly to such a mechanism which auto matically applies a brake to a spindle simultaneously with the disabling of the spindle by interposition of its associated idler device against the driving belt of the spinning or doubling frame. For convenience, and in the interests of brevity, reference is made throughout this specification and in the claims hereof to spinning frames, but it is to be understood that the term spinning frame is intended to include within its scope a doubling frame.

As is well known, in the art of spinning or doubling, spinning frames are employed each having a plurality of spindles all driven by a single driving belt, and it is highly desirable and even necessary that the yarns being wound upon the spindles be given a predetermined twist, and that such twist be maintained uniformly throughout the spinning or doubling operation.

A normal hazard sometimes encountered during the above operation is breakage of the yarn strand of a spindle, and it is necessary to stop rotation of the :particular spindle to splice the yarn while at the same time maintaining the other spindles driven by the same belt at their normal speeds so that the aforementioned degree of twist will not be changed.

Vaious methods have been employed in the past :to accomplish the splicing. Formerly when smaller spindles were used the spindle was stopped and held by hand while the splice was efiected and during that time the driving belt was permitted to slip on the spindle whorl or driving pulley. With the advent of larger spindles in the industry, it became difficult and unfeasible to attempt the above hand braking, and so mechanical brakes were developed, one such type being hand-operated and the other kneeoperated. Both such types, however, still permitted slip-' page of the driving belt around the whorl of the stopped spindle, whichresulted in accelerated wear of the belt and heating "up thereof which in most instance proved deleterious. Furthermore, all of the above techniques, with or without brakes, resulted in affecting the speed of the other spindles and consequently changing the twist of their yarns. On larger frames complicated clutches, for example, centrifugal clutches have also :been used, with consequent increase in expense.

Recently a new driving belt or tape was developed which is made of a spun synthetic polyamide -(e.g. nyon) having significantly improved qualities, such itape being the subject of copending patent application Serial No. 502,657, filed April 20, 1955.

As disclosed :in the above application, the woven tape is .made'endless by a special thermal bonding process ICE this material have raised the optimum spindle speed. They give a more uniform spindle speed (e.g., the belt does not jump away when the joined ends pass around a whorl) and a greater consistency of twist is thus achieved. Further remarkable advantages are a greatly reduced slip and a significantly lower power consumption (of the order of seven to twenty percent).

When using the nylon woven tape driving belt on a spinning machine employing one of the aforementioned braking methods, the heat generated by the slippage of the belt around the stopped whorl has a deleterious effect on the belt by virtue of the thermoplastic quality of the woven polyamide material, and stretching, brittleness, breaking and other similar undesirable efiects may be encountered after continued usage under such conditions. Consequently, the aforementioned great advantages of the new belt are not always realized to the fullest extent when employing one of the above braking systems, and anovel spindle idler mechanism was invented having particular adaptability to the new tape and is disclosed in copending patent application Serial No. 619,857, filed November 1, 1956.

Instead of holding the spindle whorl against slippage of the driving belt, the latter invention employs an idler pulley which thrusts the belt out of engagement with the spindle whorl, and a cam-actuated spring-biased brake means is associated with the idler pulley which stops the spindle so that the repairs can be made to the broken yarn in a minimum of time. The idler mechanisrn'has made it feasible to use the woven synthetic polyamide tape on the spinning frames and thereby permit enjoyment of the benefits the use of such tape provides, as previously outlined above. I

It is an object .of the present invention to provide a new and improved spindle idler and brake mechanism which has a coordinated relation between the idler pulley and the brake means, whereby engagement of the idler pulley with the driving belt automatically and simul taneously urges the brake means into stopping contact with the associated spindle in response to the tension of the driving belt.

Another object is to provide a spindle idler and brake mechanismiwhich is compact and has a minimum of parts thereby affording improved safety features and resulting in low maintenance and replacement costs.

The present invention may be briefly described as follows. Each spindle has a rotatably shiftable base plate and a cam plate which is disposed in concentric overlying relation with respect to said base plate and in a fixed relation with respect to the spinning frame on which the spindle is mounted. The cam plate has a recessed portion and a protuberance in its outer periphery at spaced positions. outer edge of the base plate and has a projecting arm thereon with afree end swingable over the base plate towards said spindle. free swinging end of said arm, and a brake means, radially adjustable with respect to the spindle, is disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley. The idler pulleyhas a shaft means which in turn has a downward extension terminating adjacent said base plate and is reversibly movable into the recess in the 'outer periphery of the cam plate when the extension Detent means is disposed on the base plate adjacent the aforesaid extension for limiting.

is adjacent such recess.

belt, to a second position in which said shaft :extensioni on said idler pulley lies within said recess, said driving A hub is rotatably mounted near the.

An idler pulley is mounted on the pulley then being out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley being in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes'said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent in the following specification and claims, and in the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of one type of spinning frame employing the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of a single spindle unit;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a single spindle unit, taken along lines 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section taken along lines 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of two spindle units showing the arrangement of parts during normal operation;

Fig. 6 is a section taken along lines 66 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a plan view of two spindle units showing the arrangement of parts when the idler pulleys are in engagement with the driving belt.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular Figs. 2 and 5, one embodiment utilizing the present invention is shown which is comprised of the usual spindle unit, designated generally by the numeral 10. The spindle unit 10 is secured in the usual fashion to the spinning frame 11 by means of nut 12, and has a whorl or driving pulley 13 for engagement with driving belt 14 during normal operation. Disposed at the base 15 of the spindle unit 10 and concentrical therewith, is a base plate 16 which rests on the spinning frame 11 and is rotatably or slidably shiftable with respect to the spinning frame 11 and the stationary portions of the spindle unit base 15.

Cam plate 17 is disposed in concentric overlying relation with respect to the base plate 16 and is part of the aforementioned stationary spindle unit base 15, i.e. it is maintained in a fixed relation with respect to the frame 11 during operation, as will be more fully explained hereinafter. The cam plate 17 is of smaller diameter than the base plate 16 and has a pair of recessed portions 18, 19 in its periphery 20 and a semi-circular protuberance 46 extending from its periphery 20 for purposes to be described. (See also Fig. 3.)

Rotatably affixed to the upper exposed portion 21 of the base plate 16, i.e. that portion of the base plate 16 lying outwardly from the periphery 20 of cam plate 17, or in other words, near the outer edge 22 of the base plate 16, is a vertically offset pivot or hub 23, rotatably secured by means of any suitable fastener, such as the shaft 24 and screw means 25 shown in Fig. 4. Said hub has a projecting arm or lever 26 extending therefrom in a generally horizontal direction as viewed in Fig. 2, the free end 27 of which is swingable over said base plate 16 towards the spindle 28. Mounted at said free end 27 of the projecting arm 26 is a vertically disposed shaft 29, fixedly connected to said arm 26 by suitable means and having an enlarged collar 30 adjacent the upper surface 31 of said arm 26, and a downwardly extending portion 32 terminating adjacent and out of contact with the upper exposed portion 21 of said base plate 16. Idler pulley 33 is rotatably mounted on said shaft 29 and secured thereto by flange 34 and retaining screw 35 as shown. Preferably a composition bearing only is provided for the idler pulley 33.

Intermediate of idler pulley 33 and hub 23 on the upper portion 31 of said arm 26 is laterally grooved p0rti0n 37 carrying brake means 53 comprised of complementary shaped slide member 38 having vertically disposed holder flange 39 affixed to its inner end 40, that is to say, the end adjacent the spindle 28. Brake material 41 (leather, asbestos, etc.) is held by holder flange 39 to expose the brake material 41 for movement into contact with an adjacent portion 42 of the driving pulley 13, for convenience in replacement after excessive wear, the brake material 41 and the holder flange 39 preferably having complementary shaped portions, such as the triangular shaped portions 43, 44, respectively. With such or a similar type of arrangement, the brake material 41 can be slidably removed and new material inserted without necessitating removal of the entire assembly. The slide member 38 can be laterally adjusted with respect to the arm 26 and fixedly held in place by screw means 43a and washer 44a. Elongated lateral slot 45 in said slide member 38 provides the necessary limits of adjustability. (See Fig. 6.)

Afiixed to the base plate 16 is handle means 48 of convenient shape for manually effecting the rotation of the base plate 16 from one position in which the hub 23 is engageable with the protuberance 46 in said cam plate 17 (see Fig. 5) to another position in which downwardly extending portion 32 of shaft 29 lies adjacent recess 18 or 19, according to which of the two adjacent units the plate 17 is afiixed (Fig. 1). At the latter position of the base plate 16, said downwardly extending portion 32 is movable toward the spindle 28 and into engagement with the recess portion 18 or 19 as the case may be to releasably lock said base plate 16 in such position. Detent means 49, such as the set screw shown is aifixed to said base plate 16 adjacent said downwardly extending portion 32 and radially outward therefrom to limit the outward swinging movement of arm 26 with respect to the spindle 28.

In use the spindle units 10 are arranged generally as shown in Fig. 1, with, for example, four such spindle units 10 disposed in pairs on opposite sides of drive shaft or drum 51, and the driving belt or tape 14 is disposed around all of the driving pulleys 13 around the drum 51 and a tensioning pulley 52 is employed in wellknown fashion to maintain a uniform driving contact between the tape and the drum, as well as with the respective driving pulleys 13. The base plate handle 48 for each spindle unit 10 is positioned as shown so that idler pulley 33 is out of engagement with the belt 14 and consequently the brake means 53 is out of contact with the spindle driving pulley 13, and the hub 23 engages with the protuberance 46 to maintain the apparatus in the latter position (see also Fig. 5).

When it is desired to selectively disable the driving pulley 13 of any spindle unit 10, handle means 48 is moved to swing the base plate 16 to the position shown in Fig. 7, i.e. to the position in which the idler pulley 33 engages the driving belt 14, thereby thrusting the belt 14 out of engagement with the driving pulley 13. Figs. 5 and 7 show an adjacent pair of spindle units 10 in respective operating and disabled positions, and it is to be understood that such spindle units are selectively and individually shiftable between both of said positions. At the disabled position, as shown in Fig. 7, downwardly extending portion 32 of shaft 29 engages the recess portion 18 or 19, as the case may be, of the cam plate 17 and holds the base plate temporarily locked in that position. As the idler pulley 33 is moved into engagement with the driving belt 14, the tension of the belt pulls the idler pulley 33 inwardly toward the spindle 28, in the direction shown by arrow A, thus causing corresponding inward swinging movement of arm 26 and thereby urging brake means 53 thereon into braking or stopping contact with said spindle 28 by engagement with the adjacent portion 42 of driving pulley 13, and as aforementioned, to cause engagement of the downwardly extending portion 32 of shaft 29 with cam plate recess 18 or 19 to limit the rotation of the base plate 16.

After the yarn is spliced, or other operational difficulty has been overcome, and it is desired to reengage the driving pulley 13 with the driving belt 14, handle means 48 is swung from its position as shown in Fig. 7, to return it to its original operating condition as shown in Fig. 5, and the various parts assume their original positions as previously described.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention provides an improved spindle idler and brake mechanism which i I i embodies. .the desirable features of. compactness and simplicity of structure, as well as cooperative operation of the idler pulley 33 and brake means 53 in automatic response to engagement with the driving belt 14. Positive action of the brake means 53 .is automatically insured whenever the idler pulley 33 engages the driving belt 14. Furthermore, the compactness and simplicity of the structure provides improved safety conditions for the operator by reducing snagging hazards. In addition, the inven: tion is particularly adapted for standardization of parts, especially the cam plate 17. The latter part is made with the two recesses 18, 19 and can be used on any spindle unit, whether for left hand or right hand operation, as shown in Fig. l. A cam plate with only one such recess could be "-used, and positioned so as to perform its function.to, whichever spindle it was fitted, but the movement of the base .plate would always be a little in excess of that strictly neces ary. All of the aforementioned objects-and desired features are found in the mechanism of this invention.

While one embodiment of the present invention has been shown or described, it is to be understood that certain changes or additions can be made by those skilled in the art. For example, well-known means other than the above-described base plates can be employed to mount and swing the idler pulley, and other means can be used temporarily to lock the apparatus in position with one or the other pulley in engagement with the driving belt. These and other obvious changes can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a spinning frame having a plurality of belt-driven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the driving pulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a hub rotatably afiixed to said base plate, said hub having a projecting arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said arm, brake means disposed on said arm and radially adjustable with respect to said spindle, said base plate shiftable from a first position in which said driving pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said driving pulley is out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley is in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

2. In a spinning frame having a plurality of belt-driven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the driving pulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a hub rotatably atfixed to said base plate, said hub having a projecting arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said arm, brake means disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley and radially adjustable with respect to said spindle, detent means disposed on said base plate for limiting the outward swinging movement of said arm with respect to said spindle, said base plate shiftable from a first position in which said driving pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said driving pulley is out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley is in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

3. In a spinning frame having a plurality of beltdriven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the driving pulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a hub rotatably afiixed near the outer edge of said base plate, said hub having a projecting. arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said free end of said arm, brake means disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley and radially .adjustable with respect to said spindle, detent means disposed on said base plate for limiting the outward swinging movement of said arm with respect to said spindle, said base plate sbiftable from a first position in which saiddriving pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said driving pulley is out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley is in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

, 4. In a spinning frame having a plurality of belt-driven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the drivingpulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a cam plate disposed in overlying relation with respect to said base plate, said cam plate having a recessed portion and a protuberance in its outer periphery at spaced positions, a hub rotatably affixed near the outer edge of said base plate, said hub having a projecting arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said free end of said arm, brake means disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley and radially adjustable with respect to said spindle, an extension on said arm terminating adjacent said base plate and reversibly movable into said recess of said cam plate when adjacent such recess, detent means disposed on said base plate for limiting the outward swinging movement of said arm with respect to said spindle, said base plate shiftable from a first posi tion in which said hub engages said protuberance and said driving pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said extension on said arm lies within said recess, said driving pulley then being out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley being in engagement with said belt, and thetension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

5. In a spinning frame having a plurality of belt-driven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the driving pulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a cam plate disposed in concentric overlying relation with respect to said base plate and in a fixed relation with respect to said frame, said cam plate having a recessed portion and a protuberance in its outer periphery at spaced positions, a hub rotatably affixed near the outer edge of said base plate, said hub having a projecting arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said free end of said arm, brake means disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley and radially adjustable with respect to said spindle, shaft means for said idler pulley having an extension terminating adjacent said base plate and reversibly movable into said recess of said cam plate when adjacent such recess, detent means disposed on said base plate adjacent said extension for limiting the outward swinging movement of said arm with respect to said spindle, said base plate shiftable from a first position in which said hub engages said protuberance and said driving pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said shaft extension on said idler pulley lies within said recess, said driving pulley then being out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley being in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

6. In a spinning frame having a plurality of belt-driven spindles each having an idler pulley reversibly shiftable into engagement with the driving belt to disengage the driving pulley from the belt, a rotatably shiftable base plate for each spindle, a cam plate disposed in concentric overlying relation with respect to said base plate and in a fixed relation with respect to said frame, said cam plate having a recessed portion and a protuberance in its outer periphery at spaced positions, a hub rotatably aifixed near the outer edge of said base plate, said hub having a projecting arm with a free end swingable over said base plate towards said spindle, said idler pulley mounted on said free end of said arm, brake means disposed on said arm intermediate between said hub and said idler pulley and radially adjustable with respect to said spindle, shaft means for said idler pulley having an extension terminating adjacent said base plate and reversibly movable into said recess of said cam plate when adjacent such recess, detent means disposed on said base plate admovement of said arm with respect to said spindle, handle means for shifting said base plate from a first position in which said hub engages said protuberance and said driving. pulley is in engagement with said belt, to a second position in which said shaft extension on said idler pulley lies-within said recess, said driving pulley then being out of engagement with said belt and said idler pulley being in engagement with said belt, and the tension of said belt moves said arm toward said spindle and causes said brake means to be urged into stopping contact with said spindle.

jacent said extension for limiting the outward swinging 20 731,272 Bradley June 16, 1903 I FOREIGN PATENTS 492,958 Great Britain Sept. 30, 1938 919,992 Germany Nov. 11, 1954 

